What Kirsten's all about statistically

Gary Kirsten is a bit of a mystery for being the new coach of team India. He does not really have too much of a coaching background.

Written by NDTVSports

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New Delhi:

Gary Kirsten is a bit of a mystery for being the new coach of team India. He does not really have too much of a coaching background.

He was in the reckoning for coach of Scotland in 2004, but he didn't get the job. Now he stands on the threshold of the most high profile coaching job in international cricket, coach of the Indian cricket team.

However, his strong credential is his record as a player.

Certainly, he was substance over style - at least his statistics prove that.

Kirsten has played 110 Tests and 185 ODIs for South Africa. As a batsman, he was remembered for being gritty. His batting shot used to be certainly effective, if not elegant.

On field, he also came with a very safe pair of hands. However, he did seem to be weak for chopping the ball onto his stumps.

His 188 not out is still the highest by a South African in one day cricket. He has got 21 test hundreds, bettered only by Jacques Kallis (29).

He was also the first South African to play 100 tests.

His 275 against England was a match saving knock, after his side was made to follow on, indicating that he was a player who saved his best for the big occasions.

However, Kirsten's coaching experience is even less limited than that of Greg Chappell.

His credentials as a player might be impeccable, but will he able to steer a team full of superstars as coach.

He has been a batting consultant to a domestic team in South Africa, with the cricket board, he has been a high performance manager and a national selector.

But Kirsten does run a private coaching academy in Cape Town, so he is very much in touch with coaching, even if it is not at the highest level.

However, the big question now is whether Kirsten accepts the job or not, and how soon he starts.

Hopefully, there won't be an encore of the Graham Ford situation, where he turned down the job at the last minute citing family commitments.